322 1, COE CATBIRD 
Nesting.—WNest, of twigs, weed-stalks, vegetable fibers, and trash, carefully 
lined with fine rootlets, placed at indifferent heights in bushes or thickets. Eggs, 
4-5, deep emerald-green, glossy. Av. size, .95 x .69 (24.1x 17.5). Season, first 
two weeks in June; one brood. 
General Range.—E astern United States and British Provinces, west regu- 
larly to and including the Rocky Mountains, irregularly to the Pacific Coast from 
British Columbia to central California. Breeds from the Gulf States northward 
to the Saskatchewan. Winters in the southern states, Cuba, and middle America 
to Panama. Bermuda, resident. Accidental in Europe. 
Range in Washington.—Summer resident; not uncommon but locally dis- 
tributed in eastern and especially northeastern Washington; penetrates deepest 
mountain valleys on eastern slope of Cascades, and is regularly established in 
certain West-side valleys connected by low passes. Casual at Seattle, and else- 
where at sea-level. 
Authorities.—Galeoscoptes carolinensis, Belding, Land Birds of the Pacific 
District (1890), p. 226 (Walla Walla by J. W. Williams, 1885). D*. Sst. Ss?. J. 
Specimens.—U. of W. Prov. P. C. 
THOSE who hold either a good or a bad opinion of the Catbird are one- 
sided in their judgment. ‘Two, and not less than two, opinions are possible 
of one and the same bird. He is both imp and angel, a “feathered Mephis- 
topheles” and “a heavenly singer.”’ But this is far from saying that the bird 
lives a double life in the sense ordinarily understood, for in the same minute 
he is grave, gay, pensive and clownish. Nature made him both a wag anda 
poet, and it is no wonder if the roguishness and high philosophy become 
inextricably entangled. One moment he steps forth before you as sleek as 
Beau Brummel, graceful, polished, equal-eyed; then he cocks his head to one 
side and squints at you like a thief; next he hangs his head, droops wings 
and tail, and looks like a dog being lectured for killing sheep ;—Presto, 
change! the bird pulls himself up to an extravagant height and with exag- 
gerated gruffness, croaks out, “Who are you?” Then without waiting for an 
answer to his impudent question, the rascal sneaks off thru the bushes, 
hugging every feather close to his body, delivering a running fire of cat-calls, 
squawks, and expressions of contempt. There is no accounting for him; he 
is an irrepressible—and a genius. 
The Catbird is not common in Washington, save in the northeastern 
portion of the State, where it is well established. Miss Jennie V. Getty finds 
them regularly at North Bend, and there is a Seattle record; so that there is 
reason to believe that the Catbird is one of those few species which are ex- 
tending their range by encroachment from neighboring territory. There can 
be no question that civilization is conducive to the bird’s welfare, primarily 
by increasing the quantity of its cover on the East-side, and, possibly, by re- 
ducing it on the West. Catbirds, when at home, are found in thickets and in 
loose shrubbery. River-banks are lined with them, and chaparral-covered hill- 
